Tuesday, May 17, 2011

(Malaysia) Injured kitten, found in the middle of the road, sent for treatment

Monday, May 16, 2011

I received a call from Jason today. Apparently, he had just rescued a little kitten from the middle of the road this morning. He said the kitten looks injured and Jason wanted to know whether he should send the kitten to a vet or to the shelter.

To the vet, I said. And I offered him our panel vet.

So, Jason and his friend, Poh Yee, brought the kitten to our panel vet, and I met them there.

The kitten was hissing and spitting. Hmm...good sign. Hissing is a defence response when the kitten feels threatened. It also means the kitten is still quite strong.

This is Jason and Poh Yee.

Jason said he found the kitten in the middle of the road this morning, at 8am. Initially, Jason thought the kitten was dead, but upon closer inspection, it was still alive, so Jason tried to push the kitten to the side of the road, and that's when he saw that the kitten had been injured. Also, another pet-adult cat was with the kitten at that time, but that's not the mother. It is probably just a neighbourly-cat, trying to help?

Jason and Poh Yee actually had no plans for the kitten and they were not sure of what to do for it after this visit to the vet's. I told them I could blog for fosterers or adopters, but I can't guarantee I'd be able to find one. So I asked if either one of them could foster the kitten instead since it's quite obvious the kitten would need some sort of nursing care. It did not take long for Jason and Poh Yee to work out a plan on how they could care for the kitten.

See why I like working with young people?

So, even before any diagnosis was made, Jason and Poh Yee said they would take responsibility for the kitten. They were already talking about how, who, what and where. I said I'd lend them a cage.

The little one hissed and spat at our vet as well....but soon settled down.

The vet found an umbilical hernia on the kitten's abdomen, which may require surgery later on. This means a part of its insides is sticking out, and it could be either a congenital defect or due to something else. There is also an injury on its leg where the skin has been scraped off. The kitten is in pain, the vet told us. Poor thing. Part of its tail was also hanging - this would need to be amputated later on.

Its circulation is good. Ahh...that's good.

The kitten is still very alert.

Hey you!

Our vet suggested two options for Jason:

1. No sedation. Cut off the skin that needs to be cut off and also part of the tail that's hanging. The kitten may be in pain for about 10-20 minutes for this procedure if no sedation is given.

2. Give sedation and do the above, but there is a risk a kitten this young might not be able to take the sedation and die.

Jason and Poh Yee decided on Option 1 because they did not want to risk the kitten's life, even though the risk was small.

Discussing options with kitten listening intently. He's probably saying, "Hey, I'm tough, ok? I can take pain." By the way, yes, it's a male. He reminded me of Wii when first rescued. Wii was spitting and hissing at me too, protecting Vixey.

Ok, Spitty. See you later....be brave.

Updates at 2pm: The procedure has been done. Everything went very well, according to the vet. In fact, little Spitty was so well-behaved too.

Today's treatment could have been subsidised by us, but Jason insisted on settling the entire bill.